Delhi’s finance minister Atishi presented the FY25 budget in the state assembly on Monday, announcing the ‘Mukhyamamantri Mahila Samman Yojana’ under which women aged 18 and older will receive Rs 1,000 per month.
She also announced in the state assembly budget before the general elections that universities and Industrial Training Institutes will use the Business Blasters initiative, which was previously implemented in schools.
The government announced nine G20 preparedness initiatives and committed Rs 78,800 crore for 2023-24 last year.
Delhi spent Rs 75,800 crore in 2022-23 and Rs 69,000 crore the year before.
Atishi presented the budget for the first time since taking over finance last year.
She credited former education minister Manish Sisodia and health minister Satyendar Jain with developing the national capital’s education and health models in her budget speech.
“The Kejriwal government’s tenth budget today is a source of pride. Not only is this the ninth budget, but Delhi is changing. Kejriwal gave hope. Ram Rajya inspires everyone. She stated we’re working hard to realize Ram Rajya’s ideal.
She suggested allocating Rs 16,396 crore for education and lauded the AAP government’s achievements.
The State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT) has received Rs 100 crore for teacher training, while Rs 150 crore is suggested for new schools and classrooms.
In 2024-25, she planned Rs 45 crore for classroom maintenance and Rs 42 crore for Schools of Specialised Excellence.
The minister allocated Rs 118 crore for sports education, Rs 1,212 crore for further and technical education, and Rs 15 crore for “Business Blasters Senior”.
“The Kejriwal government will implement Business Blaster scheme in its universities and Industrial Training Institutes through Rs 15 crore allocation in budget,” she said.
The government recommended Rs 6,215 crore for hospitals to maintain standards in the Rs 8,685 crore health sector budget.
“Under the Delhi government, there are 38 hospitals where treatment is provided free of cost to more than 81,000 OPD patients daily and 65,806 IPD patients monthly,” added.
Out-patient and in-patient departments are OPD and IPD, respectively.
Delhi has 530 Mohalla Clinics where 64,000 individuals receive free medicine, diagnostics, and treatment daily.
She claimed Mohalla Clinics have had over seven crore OPD visits.
She said the ‘Farishtey Dilli Ke’ plan saved 22,000 lives.
The minister announced a Rs 6,216 crore budget for Social Welfare, Women and Child Development, and SC/ST/OBC Welfare Department initiatives.
From 2024-25, the government would allocate Rs 2,000 crore for the ‘Mukhyamantri Mahila Samman Yojana’ to empower women. She said women above 18 will receive Rs 1,000 per month under this initiative.
She stated a woman must be a Delhi voter, not get government benefits, and not be an income taxpayer to qualify for the plan.
The final Delhi electoral roll published in January this year has 67,30,371 female voters.
Atishi allocated Rs 664 crore for feeding projects.
The law and justice budget in 2014-15 was Rs 760 crore, she said.
“I am delighted to share that by 2024-25, it has increased by nearly four-fold to reach Rs 3,098 crore,” stated.
The minister said the Delhi government will build four court complexes in Rohini, Karkardooma, Shastri Park, and Rouse Avenue in 2024-25.
These will feature 250 new courtrooms, lawyer chambers, libraries, and modern facilities. In 2016, 33,000 people received free legal assistance from the Delhi State Legal assistance Authority. She said this figure quadrupled to 1.25 lakh last year.
The finance minister announced Rs 902 crore for illegal colonies.
She stated that Delhi will have around 10,000 buses, 80% of which will be electric.
She announced Rs 7,195 crore for Delhi Jal Board, Rs 510 crore for DTC and cluster bus electric bus induction, and Rs 500 crore for Delhi Metro.
